Bulls fall at home to Warriors

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The Golden State Warriors Saturday pulled away from the Bulls in the fourth quarter behind the shooting of Draymond Green with 31 points for a 112-102 victory to increase their record to 17-2. The Bulls fell to 12-8 and 2-5 at home.

The Bulls were led by Jimmy Butler with 24 points and Pau Gasol with 22 points and 20 rebounds. Klay Thompson had 24 points for Golden State and 19 for Stephen Curry. In the battle of the star guards, Derrick Rose added nine points, all in the first quarter, and six assists. Threes by Thompson and Green after the Bulls pulled within 89-87 with 7:13 left sent the Warriors on a 16-4 run to break open the game.

The Warriors started fast with Joakim Noah having a tough matchup with Draymond Green, the stretch power forward for the Warriors, who made three early three pointers. That got the Warriors off to a 22-8 lead and 28-22 after one quarter. But the Bulls reserves with Taj Gibson back from a sprained ankle opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 33-28 Bulls lead. The Warriors, however, got the Bulls into their uptempo game, forcing turnovers as the Bulls gave up a staggering 27 fast break points in the first half. It led to the Warriors taking a 61-49 halftime lead led by Klay Thompson with 17 points and Green with 16. The Bulls again had a strong start to the quarter with Noah taking advantage of his pairing with Pau Gasol for a pair of followup scores that was part of a 19-6 Bulls start to the third quarter. The Bulls held the Warriors without a fast break point in the third quarter and with Gasol operating inside took an 80-79 lead into the fourth quarter.

Observations:

1. Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah playing together had difficulty matching up with the Warriors faster game and Draymond Green stepping outside shooting three pointers and scoring a career high in points.

2. Pau Gasol continued his march to the All-Star game with his seventh straight double/double in his eighth game back since missing three games with his calf strain. His first game back was 23 and 9.

3. Derrick Rose’s passing has been terrific. His passing ahead, especially in the third quarter, enabled the Bulls to get back in the game and his extra hard passes in the half court produced several easy shots.